Lewis Hamilton will start today’s Spanish Grand Prix from the back of the grid
having been sensationally stripped of pole for breaching technical
regulations regarding fuelling.

The 2008 world champion was on his in-lap after claiming what he believed would be his third pole in five races, and McLaren’s 150th in total, when his team ordered him to stop the car on track due to an unidentified “technical problem”.

McLaren were subsequently found to have an insufficient quantity of fuel in the car to return it to the pits and still provide the mandatory one-litre sample to the governing body.

Although McLaren’s beleaguered sporting director Sam Michael tried to claim 'force majeure’, arguing that a team member had mistakenly underfuelled the car, stewards rejected his reasoning and excluded Hamilton from qualifying altogether.

“The competitor is, however, allowed to start the race from the back of the grid,” a statement read.

The severity of the punishment raised eyebrows but McLaren did not contest it. A spokesperson said: “We accept the stewards did not agree with our interpretation of force majeure. Our aim is now to maximise the points we can score tomorrow.”

While Hamilton can feel hard done by, McLaren’s mistake was horrendous and is bound to lead to renewed speculation regarding Hamilton’s future.

The 27 year-old is in the final year of his five-year contract and there was much speculation last season that he might seek a move away from the team who recruited him as a 13-year-old.

Red Bull’s Mark Webber, Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa are all in the final year of their contracts as well, increasing the potential for a big transfer.

The speculation had died down this year with McLaren having built a front-running car, but Hamilton’s strong performances have not translated into race wins, often through no fault of his own.

Earlier, when asked to comment on the possibility of starting further back, he said: “I’ll give it my all, and we’ll give it our all, and I hope with our improved pit stops as well we can make steps forward.

“Overtaking here is very tough, as we’ve seen in previous years, but we have the DRS so I would hope we can overtake.”

The dramatic denouement to the day was entirely in keeping with what had taken place earlier. Say what you like about this new era Formula One, but there is rarely a dull moment.

While the debate continued to rage over the impact that Pirelli’s tyres are having on the spectacle, the sport served up yet another extraordinary qualifying session.

Hamilton’s misfortune was, rather incredibly, Williams’s gain. Pastor Maldonado, dismissed by some as a 'pay driver’ — his place in the team having been secured courtesy of a reported £29.4 million this year alone from Venezuelan oil company PDVSA — will start from pole after most of the likely suspects suffered some kind of problem.

“I expected quite a bit from qualifying today, so I don’t really understand what went wrong. The speed is in the car though, as Lewis showed." Hamilton said in a statement.

“We were quickest on the soft tyre yesterday, and I thought we’d be reasonably competitive today too – but that wasn’t the case, and we don’t really know why. I just struggled with a very different balance from yesterday.

“I had oversteer all through qualifying, then, on my final run – when we actually added more front wing – I had understeer!

He added: “It’s not a perfect day when you qualify in P11 [P10 after Lewis’s penalty] but I hope we can work out this evening what’s happening with the balance for the race tomorrow.

“I guess you’d just have to describe today as a difficult day at the office.”

Hamilton’s team-mate Jenson Button did not even make the final shoot-out for the 10 quickest drivers, complaining of understeer and imbalance balance in his car.

Webber left it too late to set a time in Q2. The importance of preserving fresh rubber this year is such that double world champion Sebastian Vettel did not even bother to set a time in Q3. Neither did Michael Schumacher.

Still, it was a great moment for Williams, who have fallen on such hard times recently. Michael has just moved from Williams to McLaren.

Sir Frank Williams, honoured by his team with a surprise 70th birthday party last night, was clearly thrilled, as was 27-year-old Maldonado.

“It’s a great moment for the team and for me,” he said. “And it’s the best present ever for Frank Williams. I hope to have a great race tomorrow. I’ll do my best – we’ll see.”

McLaren were not feeling quite so chipper. The team may have been regretting the timing of the launch party for their glossy new book.

The title? The Art of Racing. Oh, the irony.

A season of errors for McLaren

Australia: In the season-opening grand prix, in which Lewis Hamilton started from pole, he was not released at the right time at a pit stop and eventually finished third.

Malaysia: A week later, and again after claiming pole, there were issues at pit stops involving Hamilton’s rear-left and front-right tyres. Again he finished third.

China: After qualifying second, Hamilton received a five-place grid penalty as his car required a new gearbox. For the third consecutive race he eventually finished third.

Bahrain: In a grand prix controversial for off-field reasons Hamilton had issues with his left-rear tyre at two separate pit stops, resulting in him finishing eighth and losing his lead of the championship.